Clearing and purifying champagne fermented in bottles.



No. 737,634. PATENTBI) SEPT. 1;1903. K. KIEFER.

CLEARING AND PURIFY ING CHAMPAGNE PERMENTED IN BOTTLES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1. 1901.

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UNITED STATES Patented September 1, 1903.

KARL KIEFER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

CLEARING AND PURIFYING CHAMPAGNE FERMENTED IN BOTTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 737,634, datedSeptember 1, 1903. Application filed April 1 1901. Serial No. 53,787-(No specimens.)

To all whom, it may concern;

Be it known that I, KARL KIEFER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clearing and PurifyingChampagne Fermented in Bottles, of which the following is aspecification.

I hereby declare that the following is a clear and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to use the same.

Champagne is an old drink consisting of wine which underwentafermentation within a closed bottle in preferably cold rooms. Thecarbonic acid thus produced by this fermentation is retained within thewine and lends to thedrink itseffervescence and agreeable taste.However, such wine after terminating its fermentation within the bottleappears to be tart (dry) for the taste of the consumer. Therefore thebottle of champagne was opened, the sediment removed by a process whichwas called disgorging, and sweetening, and sometimes flavoring, wasadded to the champagne to make it agreeable to the taste. This processof disgorging and sweetening caused a certain amount of carbonic acid toescape, which in my inventiou l will avoid by the arrangement and methoddescribed in the following: The wines for preparation of champagne mustbe young wines containing, preferably, some of the wine-yeast germscapable of starting a new fermentation when sugar or other sweeteningmatter has been added. The process most in vogue today is to press theyoung wine in the fall of the year and let it undergo its firstfermentation during the winterin large casks. This wine is then drawnoff from its yeast, mixed with sugar or other sweetening matter, andfilled into strong walled bottles and hermetically closed. The retainedgerms of the wine soon start the second fermentation,and the quantity ofthe sweetening matter is so measured as to produce the necessarypressure within the bottles, so as not to cause any bursting of thebottles. It must be understood that this sweetening disappears entirelyin the course of fermentation in the bottle, all sugar being transformedinto alcohol and carbonic acid. After a certain lapse of time thisformen tation is entirely terminated, which state is noticed by thedepositing of all dead yeast cells upon the walls of the bottles. Thenext process that champagne has to undergo is the clearing process.

Heretofore champagne fermented in bottles has been cleared by a verytedious and expensive manual process. The fermentation havingterminated, the yeast sediment began to deposit on the sides of thebottles. Those bottles had to be shaken every day by hand and theinclination of the position had to be graduallyincreased until thebottle stood on its top and all sediment settled down upon the cork.

The following operation is called disgorging. By that operation the corkwas caused to suddenly escape from the bottle. The pressure which hadaccum ulated through the fermentation within the bottle forced it butsuddenly as soon as the fastener which kept it within the bottle hadbeen cut or removed. All the dirt having settled upon the cork wasnaturally ejected simultaneously with the cork; but a certain amount ofdirt having adhered closely to the walls of the bottle it was necessaryto remove it with the finger of the hand, consequently allowing at thesame time a certain amount of liquid to escape during this operation.This operation is naturally costly, as a good deal of the champagne hadbeen lost. It is not very appetizing, as the finger of some individualhad to clean the bottle. It also resulted in the loss of a good amountof the carbonicacid gas which lends champagne the quality ofeffervescence and agreeable taste. v

Clearing by filtration has been applied to champagne fermented in bulk,that means cham pagneterminatingits fermentation within comparativelylarge metal tanks having liquid and gas connections. Champagne of thatkind, however, has never been asuccess, owing to the chemical andmechanical disparity between the champagne fermented in bottles, owing,also, to the costliness of the metal containers which were occupied bythe champagne during the full length of its last fermentation.

After clearing the next operation the champagne had to undergo was thesweetening. Champagne to taste agreeable has to contain a certain amountof sweetening, which is supplied in the shape of a solution ofrockcandy,sometimes flavored with alittle cognac. This was added by handor sometimes by socalled dosing-machines. At any event the proportionof-the addition of this sweetening to the amount of champagne retainedin the bottle after disgorging varies greatly, preventing the uniformityof taste of champagne.

The object of my invention is to clear and sweeten champagne after itsfermentation in bottles, avoid escape of the gas and loss of Wine andthe coming in contact'of champagne with anything but clean machinery,simplify the operations of sweetening and clearing, and attain a greateruniformity than could have been attained by the hand process.

To carry my invention into effect, I transfer the contents of allbottles containing champagne under pressure to one common container ortank, add the sweetening in proper proportion, mix the whole massthoroughly, and then filter into a second tank. From there I draw thechampagne into bottles. The whole process I carry out under pressureequal to or greater than that pressure under which the champagne hasterminated its fermentation while in the bottles.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a diagrammaticarrangement of the apparatus used to carry out my process. Fig. 2 showsa detail of the apparatus.

I will now describe in detail those minor processes which allow thetransfer of the liquid under pressure from one tank to another one orfrom the tank to the bottles without losing any of the originalcarbonic-acid gas and under the exclusion of air.

In order to dump the contents of the bottles into a common tank, Iproceed as follows: I freeze either the whole contents of the fermentedchampagne or that small part next to the cork by suitable means. Inorder to freeze the neck of the bottle only, I have to put the bottleupside down into a freezing liquid, such as brine. The neck will freezeunder the extreme cold, while the upper part of the bottle is stillliquid. In that condition I remove the cork or any other contrivancewhich has been used during the secondary fermentation of the liquid inthe bottle. The contents of the bottle being frozen or closed by a propof ice will stay within the bottle. I now transfer the bottle B to anopening connected to a tank M and closed temporarily by a valve V. Theopening is preferably on top of the tank and has a rubber ring againstwhich the frozen bottle, turned upside down, is placed. If I now openthat valve, connection will be established between the bottle and theinterior of the tank M. TankM has previously been put under a pressureequal to or greater than that pressure which has previouslyobtainedwithin the bottles during the secondary fermentation. Inmoderate temperature the bottles soon thaw out, and the contents of thebottle will drop into the mixing-tank M. Standing continually under apressure (of tank M) the carbonic-acid gas contained within thefermented champagne will have no chance to escape. In other words,foaming is made impossible.

In order to remove the empty bottle from the tank, Iclose thevalveVagain, whereupon the bottle B can be taken off. The tank naturallymay contain a number of such openings to be rapidly filled with thecontents of the bottles. In the same manner in which I empty a bottleinto the tank I now empty the contents of a large reservoir S,containing the sweetening, into the mixing-tank M, mix the whole mass ofchampagne and sweetening by T, and then proceed to the filtration. Inorder to filter the tank full of champagne, I

have at a lower level another tank, as receiving-tank R. Intel-posedbetween both tanks isa filter F. Before I commence the filtration Iproduce in the receiving-tank R a pressure equal to that of themixing-tank M. -Thispressure is supplied from a common source 0, whichmay be liquid carbonic acid or any other supply of gas. It is kept at aconstant pressure by a pressure-regulator A. It first goes into anexpansion-tank E and from there connects with both tanks M and R. Byopening the proper valves the cloudy liquid of the mixing-tank M willflow through the filter F into the receiving-tank R. The gas ofreceiving-tank R is displaced and driven through the communicatingconnections into the top of tank M. Foaming during the whole process offiltration is impossible, as the whole apparatus, filter, and tanksstand under a uniform pressure greater than that under which thechampagne has terminated its fermentation within the bottle.

Regarding the filtering material employed, I will say that paper-pulp,cellulose, woodpulp, asbestos-pulp, and similar fibrous pulp may beemployed. The material should be packed closely enough to retain alldead yeastcells, as well as all other mechanical impurities. Sterilityof the filter material, as well as of the whole apparatus, is preferableto prevent further possibility of an after-fermentation.

Regarding the filter, I will say that any good pulp filter may beemployed, preferably, however, the one patented to me on the 30th ofMarch, 1897, No. 579,586.

After the receiving-tank R is full of clear champagne the same may bedrawn off into the original bottles again after the same have beencleansed with pure water. The drawing ofi is accomplished with a fillingand corking machine, such as has been on the market for a great lengthof time for filling charged liquids. This filling and corking machinehas a contrivance to compress the cork K (shown in detail in Fig. 2) anda mouthpiece of elastic material W,against which the bottle can bepressed, and the two openings G and H, terminating below cork K. Theopenings G and H are controlled bystop-cooks. After the bottle has beenfilled the cork can be driven within the mouth of the bottle, preventingany escape of gas. In my process of filling bottles, however, I employthe precaution of filling the bottles first with carbonicacid gas inorder to insure the exclusion of any air from the champagne.

From Fig. 1 it is plainly evident that the filtered champagne of tank Rflows into the bottle 13 and displaces the gas through connection GWithout foaming, as the whole operation proceeds under a common pressuredetermined by a regulator A.

I do not want to limit myself as to the exact steps of the process asherein described. I deem the procedure, however, preferable as hereindetailed.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-- 1. The process of disgorging champagne fermentedin bottles,consisting of assembling it after the termination of thefermentation in a common mixing-tank, sweetening it and filtering it,all under a pressure equal to or greater than the fermentation of thechampagne developed within the bottles, then drawing it off into thecleansed bottles.

-2. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingofassembling it after the termination of the fermentation in a commonmixing-tank, sweetening it and filtering it, all under a pressure, thendrawing it olf into the cleansed bottles.

3. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof transferring the contents of all bottles holding fermented champagneto one common container, adding the sweetening, and mixing the wholemass thoroughly, filtering into a second tank, and drawing off the clearchampagne into bott1es,the whole operation proceeding under one commonconstant pressure, equal to or greater than the fermentation of thebottle created.

4. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof assembling it after the termination of the fermentation in a commonmixing-tank, and filtering it, all under a press'u re equal to orgreater than the fermentation of the champagne developed within thebottles, then drawing it off into the cleansed bottles.

5. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof transferring the contents of the bottles to one commoncontainer,filtering it,and'drawing off the clear champagne into bottles,the whole operation proceeding under pressure to prevent the escape ofthe original fermented gas.

6. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof transferring the contents of the bottles to one common container, andmixing the whole mass thoroughly, filtering into a second tank, anddrawing off the clear champagne into bottles, the Whole operationproceeding under one common constant pressure, equal to or greater thanthe fermentation of the bottle created.

7. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof assembling it after the termination of the fermentation in a tanksystem, sweetening and filtering it in bulk, and drawing it off againinto bottles, materially retaining the original carbonic-acid gas,developed by fermentation.

8. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof assembling it after the termination of the fermentation in bulk in atank system, filtering it in bulk, and drawing it off again intobottles, materially retaining the carbonic-acid gas, originallydeveloped by fermentation.

9. The process of disgorging champagne fermented in bottles, consistingof transferring it after the termination of the fermentation intoauxiliary vessels for the purpose of sweetening and filtering,orfiltering only,then drawing it off into bottles again, materiallyretaining the carbonic-acid gas, originally developed by fermentation.

KARL KIEFER.

Witnesses:

A. RHEINSTROM, O. L. RICHTER.

